1page.title=Interacting with Other Apps
2page.tags=intents,activity
3helpoutsWidget=true
4
5trainingnavtop=true
6startpage=true
7
8@jd:body
9
10<div id="tb-wrapper">
11<div id="tb">
12
13<h2>Dependencies and prerequisites</h2>
14<ul>
15  <li>Basic understanding of the Activity lifecycle (see <a
16href="{@docRoot}training/basics/activity-lifecycle/index.html">Managing the Activity
17Lifecycle</a>)</li>
18</ul>
19
20
21<h2>You should also read</h2>
22<ul>
23    <li><a href="{@docRoot}training/sharing/index.html">Sharing Simple Data</a></li>
24    <li><a href="{@docRoot}training/secure-file-sharing/index.html">Sharing Files</a>
25  <li><a
26href="http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/11/integrating-application-with-intents.html">
27Integrating Application with Intents (blog post)</a></li>
28  <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/components/intents-filters.html">Intents and Intent
29Filters</a></li>
30</ul>
31
32</div>
33</div>
34
35<p>An Android app typically has several <a
36href="{@docRoot}guide/components/activities.html">activities</a>. Each activity displays a
37user interface that allows the user to perform a specific task (such as view a map or take a photo).
38To take the user from one activity to another, your app must use an {@link
39android.content.Intent} to define your app's "intent" to do something. When you pass an
40{@link android.content.Intent} to the system with a method such as {@link
41android.app.Activity#startActivity startActivity()}, the system uses the {@link
42android.content.Intent} to identify and start the appropriate app component. Using intents even
43allows your app to start an activity that is contained in a separate app.</p>
44
45<p>An {@link android.content.Intent} can be <em>explicit</em> in order to start a specific component
46(a specific {@link android.app.Activity} instance) or <em>implicit</em> in order to start any
47component that can handle the intended action (such as "capture a photo").</p>
48
49<p>This class shows you how to use an {@link android.content.Intent} to perform some basic
50interactions with other apps, such as start another app, receive a result from that app, and
51make your app able to respond to intents from other apps.</p>
52
53<h2>Lessons</h2>
54
55<dl>
56  <dt><b><a href="sending.html">Sending the User to Another App</a></b></dt>
57  <dd>Shows how you can create implicit intents to launch other apps that can perform an
58action.</dd>
59  <dt><b><a href="result.html">Getting a Result from an Activity</a></b></dt>
60  <dd>Shows how to start another activity and receive a result from the activity.</dd>
61  <dt><b><a href="filters.html">Allowing Other Apps to Start Your Activity</a></b></dt>
62  <dd>Shows how to make activities in your app open for use by other apps by defining
63intent filters that declare the implicit intents your app accepts.</dd>
64</dl>
65
66